Since we have found the present goal of Christian living to be the perfecting of personality and the building of character, it will be wise to keep in mind the difference between nature and character. In the Christian experience, the divine nature of which we are partakers, is purely grace-it is a gift. Salvation is not earned, won or bought-it is a gift of God. The new life of which we are conscious when we come to a knowledge of Christ as a personal Saviour, is called a new creation and we are spoken of as new creatures in Christ. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17).

This new nature holds all the potential properties for a noble and beautiful character but they are not yet developed. That is why in the initial stage we are called babes. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2). “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen” (II Peter 3:18). We are then but babes, but holding and embracing the hope and the truth of a maturity and perfection for which God has made ample provision and toward which He continually works. The nature is a gift-we merely accept it by faith and look to God for life to develop it.

Character is the result of growth and at once involves a process. It is built and is shaped and evolved under the power of choice granted the individual. The new nature is subjected to all the natural or normal processes of life-good, bad and indifferent. As we meet life we continually exercise our power of choice and react to all the stimuli life affords. By proper choosing and living we build a desirable, strong Christian character; or by poor choosing and aimless living our characters are weak, slipshod, or even debased. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, but Christian character is never imputed. It is the result of a personal building process. I may accept Christ in a moment and thrill at the joy of it, but I cannot build a Christian character in a moment. It is begun here and occupies my attention as long as I live.

The gift of salvation gives you life, but it does not qualify you for a spiritual ministry, either here or in the age to come. We qualify for that here. So do not confuse these two factors with which we will be continually dealing.

Since this is the way God is working with us we see at once that life is really a “process of becoming.” To more clearly understand this teaching as it relates to life in the spirit or the maturing of a Christian life, we might compare it with features common in the natural life. There is an analogy between the two lives which sheds light and encouragement as we grow. In the natural life one is conscious of growth and the building of a personality, the shaping of a character. This, I say, is common all about us among those who make no claim at all to a Christian experience. It is just plain, natural living.

Man recognizes the fact that at birth he is given a human nature and a “fundament of being.” I know no better expression for this. For really all the fundamental material for his life process is given then. He holds the potential elements for a personality. But we could not say of a little babe, “he has such a sweet personality.” Why? Simply because the babe has not lived long enough to build or evolve one. He will have to be subjected to life, its joys, sorrows, pain, defeats, victories and all the multitude of experiences and vicissitudes. His personality will be a record or sum total of all his reactions to them. He gathers these reacting effects into a personalized whole. He is an individual as a babe and will be an individual in the end, but he will then be a personalized individual. All of us are individuals and very much the same fundamentally in all departments but our personalities differ according to our personal acts and reactions and choices we make. So man, even outside the Christian experience is busy building. While we are thinking of man purely in the natural sense of the word let us go a bit further.

In the process of becoming, we find one taking certain characteristic steps. These furnish the material for the next few chapters. These steps are sometimes called the ladder of St. Augustine. He uses as rungs in the ladder the basic facts: I am; I know; I can; I ought; and, I will. But in my study I include the fact of, I know, in the realization, I am, and will use these four fundamental facts of life as topics for teaching what I believe helpful to those interested in this vital subject-becoming.

Briefly stated, these steps are four.

1. They start with the fact of being—I AM. This expresses potentiality. The next is logical in sequence.

2. Since I am—I CAN. This covers the field of possibility.

3. Instantly the fact of doing or action discovers to us the question of moral concern and the question of right and wrong. Here is the sense—I OUGHT. That is responsibility.

4. One does not rest here. Right or wrong call for decisions, so one is at once made to exercise his God-given power of choice. I WILL is finality.

So in these four steps: I am; I can; I ought; I will; we will trace some of God’s dealings, provisions and victories which He has for those who desire (and really mean it) a spiritual life and Christian character, developed under the light of His Word and the personal supervision of the Holy Spirit.